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By Adam Petrus | December 19, 2024
Is Enough Being Done to Protect Football Players and Other Contact Sport Athletes?
Cognitive scientist (and former NFL tight end) Julius Thomas provided his professional opinion in a recent episode of Chalk Talk. See if you agree with his perspective and advice.
It has been 20+ years since this question sent shock waves through the sports world:
Football Similar to Car Crashes?
American footballers endure 'car crash' blows
However, these headlines, spurned by a Virginia Tech study of its own football team, didn’t compel sweeping changes to the game or players’ gear at all levels – at least not immediately.
The NFL started changing rules to better protect professional football players, and research launched into ways to improve the protective qualities of helmets, pads, and other gear. The league even started putting RFID tags in helmets and shoulder pads to track player moments during practice and games and gather data that could help understand the player experience.
But has enough been done? Has the long-term impact of those frequent on-field collisions been properly mitigated by these various measures? And has enough been done at the youth, high school, and college levels to protect contact sport athletes? These are some of the questions that Hale Hentges (a former NFL tight end) posed to his friend Julius Thomas (also a former NFL tight end) on Chalk Talk:
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If you can’t watch the full episode right now, here’s the scoop:
While Julius acknowledges the efforts being made by sports organizations and overall gives them a “B” grade (meaning, they are doing a significant amount to protect players), he does feel there is potential to further improve player health and safety measures.
“So, you know, if I have to think about it and ask: Do I think enough is being done? I would say yes, I think that most professional sports organizations have a dedicated group of people, right? Take the NFL, for example, they probably have 40, 50 of the best physicians, researchers in the world trying to analyze data and to help take that data to help make the game safer. So yes, I think that reached a threshold of their doing enough to try and help and I always say, you know, not to be overly critical, but I always give it like a B, right? Like, you’re doing enough. But I think that there’s another opportunity to take it even further.”
That begs the question: How exactly do members of the sports and health-minded communities take current measures further? What more can be done to protect players’ health and safety, especially in contact sports like football?
From Julius’ perspective…
Look at the data.
Better yet, let others with no skin in the game look at the data through a much broader lens:
- Provide open access to player health and safety data: If your sports organization is collecting this type of data, make it more accessible to the broader scientific community. This would enable more extensive (unbiased) research and could lead to new insights and innovations in player health and safety that those of us too close to the issue might not think about.
- Integrate the data into academia: Again, let outside researchers study it more comprehensively and help us all gain a better understanding of injury prevention and health promotion strategies and mechanisms.
*Remember: It was the academic research community at Virginia Tech that first recognized that college football players were being hit in the head 30 to 50 times per game and regularly enduring blows similar to those experienced in car crashes.
“Half of the hits recorded this season were greater than 30 Gs. The hardest hits measured more than 130 Gs…An impact of 120 Gs would be like a severe car accident, which you could survive if you were wearing a seat belt,'' project leader Stefan Duma said in 2004.
- Use the data to benefit the general population: NFL players aren’t in an exclusive club when it comes to contact sports injuries, and athletes aren’t the only ones who suffer injuries. So, the insights gained from sports organizations like the NFL could improve the health and wellness of the general public as the data-driven strategies developed for athletes could be applied to broader health contexts.
- Use the data to prevent issues rather than just treat them: It’s possible to get to the point where athletes can play the game without paying a price, but only if the data is analyzed with the intent of identifying risks early and implementing strategies to mitigate them.
I love this because, as Julius said, “… it doesn’t matter what your opinion is. When the data says something, eventually the decision will be made for you. The more we can show people the data and the more we show people how effective it is at keeping people healthy and keeping people available so they can go play the sport that they love, it starts to create change that comes from a level above the head of the coach and the player. And so, I tell people it’s hard sometimes to be patient with science and data and technology because we’re like, ‘I want the answer now, I want to change right now.’ But sometimes we have to have big data sets or sometimes we have to have longitudinal data sets over years and years and years.”
So, if you’re concerned that not enough is being done yet to protect athletes’ health and safety, know that two decades of data collection, paired with today’s real-time on-field player tracking data, is now painting a more detailed picture of what athletes experience. Some of the questions that previously stumped scientists are finally being answered. All the right people are coming together, through the leadership of people like Julius, to ask (and find answers to) the right questions.
If you want to learn more about the work Julius is doing off the field to help protect the health and safety of those who spend all day on the field, this is a good place to start.
Adam Petrus
Adam Petrus is currently the Business Development and Sales Lead for Sports & Entertainment at Zebra Technologies where he is responsible for growing Zebra’s hardware and software solutions across the world of sports and the entertainment industry. Prior to joining the sales team Adam co-managed Zebra’s game day operation of the NFL’s Next Gen Stats program and served as the project lead for the NFL’s Equipment Tracking Program, Virtual Locker. Adam has more than 15 years of experience within the sports and technology industry and has been working with Next Gen Stats since 2015. Previously, he worked in the front office of an NFL Football Club, served within the United States Intelligence Community supporting special operations to include two and a half years in Iraq and was a licensed and certified sports agent. Adam holds a bachelor’s degree from Baldwin Wallace University out of Berea, Ohio and attended the International Institute for Management & Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland where he earned a certificate in Business Management and Leadership.
As an active member of the community, Adam serves on the Baldwin Wallace University Carmel-Boyer School of Business Advisory Council, served on the Board of the Ponte Vedra Beach Rotary International Club and is a member of the Jacksonville JAXSports Council - a non-profit established to enhance and positively impact the quality of life and community pride, along with generating economic impact and growth through professional and amateur sports. An outdoor enthusiast, Adam enjoys running, paddle boarding, golfing and being an active parent alongside his wife Jenn to their daughters Olivia (7) & Peyton (5) and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels Gunner and Nash.
Fun Fact:
"My first job in the NFL was at age 16 when I was hired by the Cleveland Browns Groundcrew. This position then led to a promotion into the front office when I was in college and a full-time role upon graduation."
